Chaos is an Order to be Deciphered

We take this phrase from José Saramago and bring it to the São Teotónio Elementary School. Between cold walls and very bad acoustics in the cafeteria, there is a group of 30 teenagers in uproar. At first glance it seems hopeless. When we take the time to observe and read the bodies in the space, we realize that the choreographies and words are already there before we even begin. Chaos is a place of creation. Sometimes in sessions and rehearsals there are confused, ungoverned moments. We have learnt not to be afraid of this apparent lack of direction. We let chaos happen in free and spontaneous ways - without leaders or directions - and the bodies may reveal unexpected relationships, talents, dynamics, movements that we can read and collect. These can be the beginning of stories or choreographies. We let go of control. We remember sometimes being afraid of those instances, of not knowing what to do. During the ‘Babylonian Night’ amidst screaming, jumping, howling, and dancing, we remember our lost gazes in search of an answer. That which makes us desperate at times can be the very solution. At the end of that night, after the shouting and the craziness without a defined course, we understood how a problem of organization and communication could turn into a surprising artistic solution. Then we saw everything much clearer. In the BOWING BACK rehearsals there were moments when people occupied the space in whatever way they wanted, with dances and conversations appearing here and there. From the chaos the lines of bodies, relationships, and the place for each one started to be revealed. Nayon and Kahlil,l from Bangladesh, brought limes in their pockets and started to throw them at each other across the room at high speed while other dances were happening between them. In the BOWING BACK performance, this moment gave rise to a choreographic game between Nayon, Kahlil and Faruk, at the entrance of a building where different performances were happening simultaneously. It was called the ‘Waiting Game’, relating to the waiting time migrants have to go through in the queues of SEF (Borders and Foreign Services - now extinct).